


The City of Fear

by William404



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 10:48:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24968461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/William404/pseuds/William404
Summary: Adriana is a simple corporate work hand, enjoying her life of simplicity and semi-safety. After she is demanded to pay her financiers of her augmentations in full in such short notice, she is forced to make drastic measures. a life she finds that will lead her down a spiraling path of blood, the question is, how far will she go?
Kudos: 3





	1. The beginning of a new life

In the heart of Night City, an annex office for the company Militech sets near the outskirts of the inner districts. Apartments that line near the office is home to an employee of such office. Adriana lays in her bed as the sun peeks over the horizon, allowing the shadows of the containers that sit in the empty shipping dock cast over the roads. She groggily opens her eyes to realize that her alarm never kicked in.

“Oh shit!” She shouts as she jumps out of bed, tossing her blanket aside and rushes to the bathroom.

As the water cascades over her, her eyes light up with advertisements and news of the day. As she cleaned herself, she had to know of what was happening in the world. A small glimpse of control she felt like she had in the world she made for herself as a corporate stooge.

_“This in on Network News, a scavenger haunt was found in an abandoned apartment complex outside the industrial district. Several people’s implants were forcefully taken without…”_ the news segment cut as she turned off her visual news feed as she got herself ready for the day.

As she finally got dressed, she finally made her way out of her apartment and ventured into the great neon expanse of the city. She came up to the elevator which she always hated for the reason many women hate venturing this way to work.

“Hey hey there beautiful, come to see me again huh?” a tall augmented man with replaced arms spoke loudly so she could hear.

Adriana tried her best to ignore him as she struggled to reach the elevator doors to go downstairs. She didn’t get far before she grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him, forcing her to stumble.

“I said, hey there beautiful. Do you need to learn some manners Adriana?” she threatened her with a menacing tone, his eyes piercing through her.

“No sir. Im deeply sorry.” She begins to shake as she tries to free herself.

He lets her go after he tosses her aside, him and his friends laughing as she frantically ruins to the door and closes it to head downstairs. Once she made her way to the main street, she breathed a sigh of relief to be out of there; however, when she finally arrived at her desk, she had a whole new problem to deal with.

“Adriana! Get in here now.” Her boss, mister Franklin, called her in with a thunderous voice.

“Yes sir?” she walks in, her body already in a state of panic since he called her in.

“You should understand that this company is one of the top of the line industries when it comes to security contracts and weapon manufacturing…” Franklin sits at his desk, pulling up her career information on both their huds to see. “you need to understand that if one of our employees has a problem, the company has a problem.”

She sits in the seat as he goes over her previous work issues and accomplishments. A moment of awkward silence falls on the both of them as he continues to breeze through the information.

“I will give you a warning this once Adriana. After that, I will send you to corporate so they can figure out what to do with you. Do you understand?” the man stern in his position looks down at her.

“Yes sir. No more issues from me.” She responds, letting out her breath she held in.

As the day drags on, Adriana finds herself ready to head back home, but she receives a call from her debtor of her bionic eyes she received a few months ago. A creeping anxiety began to rear its head as she answered the call. In her vision, a box popped up with a representative on the other end.

“Our apologies for contacting you on such short notice Misses Adriana, but there is a matter we must discuss.” The man on the other end was dressed in a suit with visible cybernetic wiring around his face.

“Yes? I know I paid my minimum due for this month…” she began top speak but the man cut her off.

“About that madam, we are currently in the process of liquidating our accounts, so we are going to need the amount in full”

“What?” she shouts in surprise, her voice harsh from talking to other clients from the day.

Before she could try to argue with the representative, he hung up on her. She knew they wouldn’t play around, but how was she to gather that many Eddies in such a short amount of time. She was on a near panic before she remembered a client talking about hang out spot where others assign jobs for extra money. She decided to walk down toward downtown to speak with someone.

“Welcome to Hernandez’s’ Attic, chica.” A man spoke to her as she turned down an alley way.

“Uh…” she was nervous but knew she was running out of options to pay off her debt. She knew if she was to default on the finance, she would be forced to live in one of the mega blocks, far away from semi-safety net of where she lives currently.

“Yes sir, I need to speak with Hernandez?” She asked the man and he led her upstairs.

Without words exchanged, the large man behind the counter presented himself as Hernandez. Without his mouth moving, robotic words spoke, giving her a contract that was just enough to clear her of her debt. She found it alarming to what she was hearing, but she couldn’t refuse what was presented to her.

“Miss Adriana, a pleasure I am sure.” His voice so robotic it gave her the chills.

He hands her a contract that required her to take out a man that she was too familiar with. Brunner, the man who would harass her and the other women who had the unfortunate pleasure of running into him. Her breathing became labored and her hands began to shake as she read over the list.

“Wait… you want me to kill him?” she sounded shocked.

He simply nods and hands her an M-10AF 9mm Militech pistol. She reluctantly picks it up and reads the rest of the contract. Only if she agrees to take the pistol will she be obligated in fulfilling the order. She knew she had no choice so she decided to take it. She was desperate.

The night drew to a close as she walked over to her building to go to her apartment. Adrianas’ heart began to beat fast as her hands became moist from sweat. She found herself alone in the elevator, the pistol now in her hands. Her stomach turning as she thought more and more. She couldn’t hold it in anymore, releasing bile onto the floor as she threw up her lunch. The smell itself brought little comfort for what she felt.

“Oh shit, what am I doing?” she thought to herself right before the doors opened to her level.

Adriana quickly hid the pistol in her bag as she saw a familiar face. The man standing there, poised to harass her once again before the day comes to a close. Towering over her, she could only feel anxiety well up inside as she looks around and finds it is still busy with other tenets.

“So, my little cherry…” Brunner speaks as he comes close to her, one of his cybernetic arms hovering over her shoulder as she puts her back to the wall. “… you want to take me up on my offer?”

Adriana contemplates her options, the pistol in her bag keeps popping up in her mind. Just then, she thinks to herself. If she was to go in his apartment, she and he would be alone. A prospect that disgusted her, but she saw no other way.

“Yes sir. If that’s what you want. I think it’ll be fun, no?” her hands go to her back, trying to act as if she is legitimately interested.

Brunner smiles at her as the two leave the scene, coming up to his apartment. He shows her way through his place, various bottles and trash scattered around with a braindance console set up at the corner of the room. He points out a large bed that he wishes that will she be joining him soon in.

“Wait… is it ok I freshen up first?” She stops the speed of things to gather herself.

Staring into the mirror, her green augmented eyes takes a look at herself. She dry heaves as there is nothing left to throw up. She knew what she had to do, but she felt nothing but anxiety. With sweaty palms, she pulls out the pistol, racking it back to chamber a round.

“You sure took your sweet time you…” he sits up from his couch to find Adriana pointing a pistol right at him. He sees the round in the chamber, knowing she is serious.

The gun begins to shake as she points the gun at him, begging to herself to be in a separate condition than what she finds herself in. he stares at her and tries to convince her to drop the gun. To no avail, he charges and she fires off a panic round, ripping through the mans’ shoulder.

“You bitch!” he shouts as he rushes toward her. She wasn’t ready for this, dropping the pistol as she tries to flee. He pushes her to the ground, their bodies become intertwined as they wrestle for the gun. He balls his fist and lands a striking blow across her face, forcing her vision to go black for a few seconds. He then wraps his hands around her throat and begins to press hard. For a few seconds, she begins to black out but then feels the cold steel of the gun at her fingertips. Quickly she picks it up and fires off two more rounds into the man’s chest.

“You fucking… slut.” Brunner says as he holds two bleeding wounds in his chest, kneeling down next to her.

Adriana quickly got to her feet, her knees shaking as the gun in her hand felt heavy. Still pointing the gun at him, she brought herself to face him. Her eyes and face shaking as she reluctantly squeezed the trigger, sending a round ripping through his skull.

With her final blow, his body fell to the floor in a puddle of blood and brain matter scattered among the floor beneath him. She then dry heaved on more time as she looked at the aftermath of the struggle. As she began to leave the room, she noticed a picture of the man with Hernandez. She knew this wasn’t the end.

The outside was now empty as she walked to her apartment, contemplating what she had just done. The pistol in her bag, warm to the touch as she put it back in her bag. She finally made it to her bed from undressing and she just collapsed on her bed, praying for night to take her.

The next day, she went to Hernandez Attic to get her contract reward. The man was more than ecstatic, seeming to relish in the fact Brunner was dead. Giving her enough eddies to completely pay off the financing of her augmented eyes. The man decided that Adriana can keep the pistol, as a reminder of her first kill.

“Well sir, I’m sure hopefully you won’t need me ever again. Not exactly my thing.” She says as she reluctantly places the gun back in her bag.

In his robotic voice that creeped her out, he responds, making chills run up her spine. “Baby, this is Night City. Once you get in this game, you’ll be addicted for life.”

He winks at her as she leaves, those words echoing in her mind as she came to her office a few minutes later. As she began to work, her mind kept going back to the moment she ended a mans’ life. Just as she began to work, two men walked in, carrying badges that read NCPD.

“Miss Adriana?” One man, tall and black stepped toward her.

His eyes were covered under aviator glasses, his stature overbearing and masculine. His partner was just as menacing looking, only slightly shorter than his partner. Both carrying large pistols at their sides underneath thick coats.

“Yes sir?” her voice cracking as she hesitated to answer.

“We were informed that you recently paid off your implants in full. Right after news of a well-known crime boss in this area was shot to death in his apartment. I understand you have had run ins with this man a few times before and your apartment is in close proximity of his. Is this true?” he spoke with a begrudging voice.

“Sir I…” she began to speak but was cut off.

“Detective Stephens.”

“I’m sorry. I knew the guy, but…” she suddenly realized how much trouble she can be in.

“I know you are acquainted with the deceased. The man was under witness protection under the name of Brunner. We may not have much information, but just know that we will be looking at you very carefully.” He lowered his shades, revealing pale white eyes as he began recording everything that has transpired.

With his final words, he looked around her desk and decided to leave with his partner. As the two left the office, many of the woman’s coworkers looked at her in disbelief. As they all find themselves alone again, her boss calls out.

“Adriana! Get in here, now.” His voice bolstering, echoing in the hall.

She enters his office and proceeds to get a violent lecturer for the next 5 minutes as to why he doesn’t tolerate his employees having such attention to the NCPD. “I am so pissed off. What should I do with you?”

“Please sir, ill do anything to keep this job. Please reconsider a reprimand. I promise nothing like this will happen ever again.” Adriana pleads her case, her body on fire as the prospect of being fired looms over her.

“Anything you say?” his eyes narrow on her, his mind wondering as he looks her up and down.

“You’re smart Adriana, but stupid in some areas. You’re cute though, I will admit. Ill let this slide, if you are willing to do what I ask.”

“And what would that be sir?” she grows nervous, fearing what he is implying.

The man gets up from his chair and walks over to her, her body afraid to move. He cups her cheek and pulls her up to face him. He looks in her eyes and sees he is starting to record, a red blinking light in his eye.

“I’m going to fuck you. And you’ll be readily available whenever I say, understand?” he grins at her with hungry eyes, eager for what he invasions for her to come true.

“I…” she stumbles as she feels his hand venture further down, now caressing her neck.

Just as she feels like she is about to submit, something comes over her. The fire in her belly that signaled anxiety turns into rage. Her body reacts instantly as he pulls out her pistol and swipes the butt of it across his face. The metal met with his flesh, forcing a gush of blood from his wound. He fell to the floor in blood, holding his face.

“Listen to me you piece of shit. I’m not your whore, do you understand me?” she shouts, pointing the barrel of the gun to his temple.

After he pleads with her to spare him, she leaves the office in a rush, gathering nothing she belongs. She simply leaves and doesn’t look back, not knowing what the future will hold. Then in the back of her mind races and a small voice echoes.

_“This is Night City baby. Once you are in the game, you’ll be addicted for life.”_


	2. Chapter 2

In the Militech headquarters in Night City, a blonde-haired woman barks orders to her underlings, getting everything ready for a convoy departure out of the city. As she prepares with the others, her adviser comes up behind her, trying to get her attention away from the bustle. “Madam Stout, a word?”

“What?” Stout shouts over the loud noise in the background.

The slinky man hands her an electronic pad, revealing a video that he needed to show her. The video shows a tall woman with black hair, gun whipping a Militech manager in one of their annex offices. Adriana in the video shouting at the man and pointing the gun in his face, showing no fear in her actions.

“Ha! I like this girl. Who is she?” Stout speaks with amusement, grinning at the video.

“Adriana Noviskella. Says she was an analyst for our annex office, she has since been fired of course.” The man spoke with a condescending tone, almost as if all this was beneath him.

“Shame. She would have been a good operator. Time to get this shit started.” She said as she started the operation, trying to safeguard the convoy that will soon be departing. 

After a few days without work, Adriana realized that she needed to find a way to get eddies, and fast. After her outburst and self-preservation at the office where she used to work, she knew that if she didn’t get money, she would be swallowed up by the streets. Her anxiety has been on full blast ever since her falling out with the manager, but she never felt more alive at the same time.

“Dammit, what should I do?” she thought to herself as she laid in bed, staring out the window that over looked parts of downtown.

Life for her seemed bleak until she remembered the pistol under her pillow. The thing that changed her life forever. At the moment, it seemed like for the worst. She sighs as she grows more hungry and tired of not doing anything for the past days, growing ever more stir crazy being stuck in her apartment. She then hears a knock on her door.

“Adriana, what is happening babe, I got a gig for you.” A voice resonates from the other side of the door.

“Who are you? Im not that kind of woman.” She responds, holding her ear up against the solid metal door.

“No, nothing like that girl. See, me and my crew heard of you. Word on the street, you took our big mouth Paul. Just so you know, that dude had it coming. Let me in.” the man was persistent.

She reluctantly opened the door, but she had the pistol pointed right at the man as she swung the metal open. Her stand was off, but he knew she used the weapon before. He held his hands up and gave her a bewildered look.

“Woah mama, there’s no need for that.” He gave her a weary grin, staring directly down the barrel of a Militech 9mm pistol. “Me and my boys come in piece.”

Before she let him inside, she took a look around to see three others standing next to him. “Your friends will have to stay inside, got that?”

She was anxious, knowing full well that any wrong move she makes would spell disaster for her. She was hungry and destitute, tow things she knew that men would take advantage of. The man was tall with black hair and blue eyes, polished over to reveal augmented camera lenses where pupils should be.

“Alright my cheery, here’s the deal.” His face went from inviting to menacingly deadpan.

“You took out someone I have been in search of for several years. I wanted that pig dead for ratting my brother out, and you swoop in and take him out just like that.” He stares into her eyes, letting nothing past his judgmental glare.

“Really? Took me a matter of an hour to end him. Perhaps you needed a better analyst. I could offer you…” Adriana began to mock the man but was cut off with his fist hitting the table.

“Listen bitch, I wanted that stupid motherfucker myself before that fat fuck Hernandez gave you that contract. Now it is time you do a job for me…” He lost his temper, a vein popping out of his forehead as he gritted his teeth.

“…I know you need eddies as well to get by. Ill offer you some if you do this. Otherwise, me and my crew here will use things of yours you’d rather have kept… clean. If you catch my drift.”

She began to contemplate her options. It was either do this job for a random man that she now invited into her apartment, or risk him and his friends having their way with her. She couldn’t think straight, adrenaline pumping through her as she began to stress herself.

“Alright! What do you want me to do?” she conceded, wanting to keep herself from being harmed by the man with camera lens eyes.

He grins as he hands her a note. He doesn’t say a word as he leaves, closing the door behind her as he gives her a wink. In the note was a folded picture. In the picture was a man with large glowing red eyes. Four eyes to be exact. In the note said that this man was part of a Maelstrom gang that has been bothering his operations for too long and he needed the man taken out, along with his small group.

Her phone rings, breaking her tunnel vision on the words of the note. A voice on the other end cautioned her that she would benefit from ‘upgrading’ herself and that he slipped her a few eddies to get her started. She checked her available account, and to her surprise, she found a considerable amount added in her name.

“Shit.” She speaks under her breath as she gathers herself and begins to head out.

She knew she had to change everything about herself. Her cloths, her demeanor, her attitude… everything that made her, her. Her first stop was clothing. After finding a spot, she decided that wearing a corporate suit would hinder her. Instead, she left with a black tight-fitting cargo pants with an undershirt, sporting a heavy jacket over the shirt.

“Hey lady, got a minute?” she hears a voice behind her.

A man, chubby and stinking, asked her if she wanted to improve her pistol that was visible from her back pocket. Offering her a one-point chest sling to hide it under jacket. Now with the sling and new cloths, she decided to go to the place that always frightened her, a ripper doc.

She finally found her way to an alley way that showed reputable signage of a known ripper doc that will give her improvements. The man wore a mask and told her to sit. After perusing his collection, she decided to pick a more improved optics variant and poly grip implant underneath her hands for better control of her weapon.

“Tell me sweet thing, I don’t see many implants on you.: the man with blacked out eyes and an augmented chin spoke.

“I only have my eyes replaced with model K12 motion caption for my work…” Adriana began to speak.

“So, you only have implant that helped your productivity in the workplace? My sad little girl, you need to get out more.” He stated as he administered a metal grip around her eye and her hand.

She began to nearly panic as his machine griped tight on her hand as he then moved her head back to pull her existing optics out of her sockets. The pain was numb but far reaching. Her hand felt like hot needles as the machine began to replace bits of meat under her skin and replacing nerves with wiring. Her first eye was taken out with a audible pop and then replaced with a tight fitting camera model eyeball.

“The pain usually persists like this?” she managed to struggle words as the prickling and tugging of her hand made her squirm.

He simply grunts and nods as he pulls the second eyeball out, replacing her right vision with an improved optic screening interface. Her hand began to finally ease as the needling ceased, signaling the end of the operation. “There, now take a look around. You should be able to seen more vividly and with interactive captioning.”

She looks around and her vision has improved tenfold. Items she looked at would pop up with display on her hub. Her left hand, with the finished implant, was now equipped with a passive durable grip to allow her to count the rounds left in her weapon as well as maintain steady aim from recoil.

“This is awesome sir, I… I’m lost for words.” She speaks with amazement, unable to contain her excitement.

“Well, you paid the eddies in full, so I figure why not? Just take two whiffs from this med inhaler now and two in an hour. After that, you should be fine…” the man in the mask with the augmented chin said, handing her two inhalers for her implants.

“Don’t die on me. I kind of like you.”

With that, she gets out of the chair to head out, giving him one last glance as she leaves his cluttered yet clean work office. The heat from the city hits her as the sounds of bustling people come and go. The neon lights and varied vocals of robotics fill the air, only adding to the bewilderment of her situation. Under all this magnificent facade, lies cold truths.

The pistol in her sling under her jacket reminded her that she needed to finish the job or she would lose her life. She was picked because nobody in night city truly knew her, so she would be ideal to get close to the Maelstrom member she needed to take out. She grew more nervous yet excited the more she thought of it. A target location popped up on her hud as she thought of where the note told her to go. It wasn’t far, but an abandoned level of a mega block that was owned by a small group of Maelstromers controlled the level.

“I don’t want to do this. Fuck…” she swore as she came to the building, peering up to the twentieth level.

The elevator sprung open and she steps inside. She thought over and over again that if she just defaulted on her debt, things might have ended up better. She couldn’t think much before the gate opened up once again, a Maelstromer stepping inside to have a talk with her.

“Who the hell are you, and the fuck do you want?” the man was clad in armor with four enhanced cameras for eyes spoke, his weapon drawn at the ready.

“I heard you guys has some weapons not on the market. Wondering if we can make a deal.” She spoke, hiding her adrenaline from him, shaking underneath her cloths.

He looked her up and down before waving her through. He guided her past two other gang members before coming to the leader of the small group. A man with no shirt but with many augmentations on his chest and his face replaced with military grade hardware. All the members eyes were alight with a low red hue, tracking her every move.

“And who the fuck are you? Don’t tell me you are one of those Valentino shits. We told you guys that we aint dealing with you. End of story.” The leader spoke as he stood, pointing his large caliber pistol in her face.

She immediately threw her hands up and shouted that she came to possibly deal, but the man wasn’t convinced. The four others gathered around her as he stuck the gun in her face, studying her as he analyzed everything about her. As soon as he was about to pull the trigger, Adriana spoke. “I can make a deal with you. I can take a few out.”

They all froze, unexpecting what she said. The tall man in front of her dropped his guard, as well as the others following his lead. He gave her one more glance before he responded to her.

“You can take out a few of them? How would you go about that?” he looked her in the eye with his implants, trying to intimidate her.

Just then, a hot sensation weld up inside of her. A boost of energy and surge of angst pent up was about to be unleased. She did something she herself wasn’t expecting.

“This…” she said just as she pointed her pistol straight up to the mans’ chin, pulling the trigger.

With a torrent of brain matter, blood and electronics spewed forth from the exit wound of the round, she turned to her left and opened fire on the man who brought her in, sending several rounds into his face and neck. His body fell to the floor in a heap of blood as she then turned and popped off several more rounds, injuring another maelstromer as the other took cover.

She reacted and took cover behind a concrete divider, bullets flying around her as the gang member fired back from an automatic rifle, trying to cover fire for his fallen friend. “fuck you bitch!”

Words falling on deaf ears as Adriana reloaded her pistol, watching in slow motion the magazine falling and hitting the ground. She waiting patiently for a break, and she waisted no time. As soon as there was a pause in the firing, she stood up and began to fire round after round in the man’s direction. One round penetrating his shoulder, forcing him to fall to the ground along with his fallen friend.

It was if something took over her. Moving her body how it saw fit while she was just along for the ride. Walking up to the man seemed like a dream. A dream she couldn’t escape as she brought the pistol up and pointed at him, firing off one more round to end him. She walked past the man squirming on the ground, laying a puddle of his own blood.

She finally came to her senses from her dream state as she was in the elevator heading down to the main floor. Just before she crossed the road to leave, she was stopped by several men in suits, identifying themselves of those that fight those who suffer from cyberphycosis. One man in particular looked at her intently before he spoke. “You watch yourself little one.”

She was confused as a few of the men in suits gathered together and left as a gang of Valentinos left as well, the man that gave her the contract gave her a look as well when he and all of them left. As time passed and Adriana finally made it to her apartment, she thought hard over what had happened, fearing the future


End file.
